When the cream is being collected for butter making, it must not be kept so long that it becomes very sour, or in winter until it becomes bitter. Have a stone jar in which the cream can be kept. In summer keep it in the coldest place you have, but in winter it must be kept where it will become slightly sour, without becoming bitter. Old butter-makers advise skimming the cream as free as possible from milk. Every time a batch of cream is added to that in the jar, stir the contents of the jar, in order to mix thoroughly the new and old cream.
The cream should not be allowed to remain on the milk until sour. Skim it while both milk and cream are sweet.
Butter Making.
The quality of the butter will depend largely upon the care of the milk and cream. It will help the butter-maker to use a thermometer. One suitable for dairy work can be purchased for twenty-five cents at any store where they keep such goods, or where they keep dairy supplies. The cream should be slightly sour, and when put into the churn the temperature should be from 58° to 60°. In cold weather place the cream jar in a pan of hot water, and stir frequently until the cream is raised to the desired temperature; in hot weather use ice water, if necessary.
In churning it is important that the stroke shall be slow and steady. Rapid churning causes the cream to froth, and spoils the texture of the butter. It should take at least from thirty to forty minutes’ churning to bring the butter.
As soon as the butter begins to form into small masses, draw off the buttermilk and pour cold water into the churn. After a few strokes of the dasher, draw off the water and pour in fresh cold water, adding a teaspoonful of salt to every quart of water. Work the butter for a few minutes, then draw off the water. Put the butter in a wooden bowl and salt it, allowing one ounce of salt to each pound of butter. Many butter-makers allow four extra ounces of salt to every ten pounds of butter. If the butter is to be packed for future use, this is necessary.
Let the salted butter stand in the bowl over night. In the morning work all the buttermilk and water out of the butter, and then shape into any form you please. Wet pieces of thin cotton in salt and water, and wrap the rolls in them.
The less milk there is in the cream, the sooner the butter will come. The amount of butter to a quart of cream will depend upon the quality of the cream. A quart of thick cream will give a pound of butter, whereas it may take more than two quarts of thin cream to produce the same amount.
If only one cow be kept for family use, a small stone churn will be found valuable for churning the small quantities of cream which one will have. Of course, a patent churn is better for large quantities, as the work can be done more easily with it.
Too much working makes the butter tough and waxy. Work it only enough to free it from water and buttermilk. Never have the hands touch the butter; use wooden paddles for the work.